Priscilla Chan Wai-han (; born 28 July 1965) is a Hong Kong singer. She is known for her contralto singing voice and her clear, technically skilled, and emotion-rich vocals.
Debuted in 1983 at age 18 from a trio album project named Girls' Magazine (少女雜誌), which was formed by Fiori Productions Ltd. (法安利製作有限公司), with the hit "Forgotten Promise" (逝去的諾言), Chan began her solo singing career in 1984 and has since remained popular for more than three decades. Chan signed to PolyGram Records, Hong Kong (寶麗金) in 1986 and reached her career peak between the late-1980s and mid-1990s, and scored several hits particularly in the 1980s, most remarkably including "Silly Girl" (傻女) from her 1988 album Priscilla's Love (嫻情), as well as her signature song, "Thousands of Songs" (千千闋歌), one of the all-time Cantopop classics, from her 1989 best-selling farewell album Forever Your Friend (永遠是你的朋友), which also elevated Chan to the top tier of Hong Kong singers.
Chan continued to release albums during her study, and resumed her full-time singing career in 1995 after graduation, achieving a huge success for her comeback album titled Welcome Back. Chan's work remained relatively popular throughout the 1990s, eventually falling out of favour in the early 2000s when she was overtaken by a new generation of Cantopop singers. Chan made a few brief comebacks in the 2000s, including the one in 2003 when she signed to Universal Music Hong Kong, performed a concert with two shows, and released an album entitled Love Knot (情意結). Feeling frustrated upon poor record sales, Chan stepped back from the Hong Kong musical industry and embarked on her live performances at private functions and concerts overseas and in mainland China, where her popularity was further boosted.
After a decade of hiatus, Chan officially returned to the Hong Kong Cantopop scene in 2013, when she signed to Universal Music Hong Kong again with the relaunch of the PolyGram label in Hong Kong. Chan then successively released two cover albums, namely By Heart (2014) and Evolve (2015), and the compilation album Back to Priscilla (Back to Priscilla 嫻情三十) (2014) commemorating the 30th anniversary since her debut. Chan also performed in two major concert series, namely the "Back to Priscilla: 30th Anniversary Concert 2014 Live" (2014) and the "Priscilla-ism Live 2016" (2016) at the Hong Kong Coliseum, with world tours, live performances, and private functions mainly held in mainland Chinese cities, and sporadically in North America and Russia.
Early life Born in Hong Kong on 28 July 1965, Chan grew up as the eldest of three children (one younger sister and one younger brother). Her parents were senior governmental officials, and her father, Chan Ching-bo (陳澄波), was a former assistant director of Immigration at the Immigration Department of the Government of British Hong Kong, who was interested in music and indirectly developed her interest in singing. Chan attended Marymount Primary School and Marymount Secondary School in Happy Valley, Hong Kong, and had once been a secondary school fifth-form classmate with Sandy Lam, later also a Cantopop and Mandopop singer.
As a teenager, Chan would often take part in extracurricular activities. When Chan was still a primary six student, she already participated in the annual garden party, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's birthday, at the Government House held by the Government of British Hong Kong on behalf of the Marymount Primary School, and even shook hands with Sir Murray MacLehose, the then Governor of Hong Kong. Chan entered and received awards in speech contests during the Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival, as well as singing contests and events held internally in her secondary school and externally as joint-school functions, and was eventually got discovered by Angus Mak (麥偉珍, better known as 安格斯), who was an executive for the Fiori Productions Ltd. In 1983, Chan, in her fifth-form at age 18, was invited to audition by Mak and was soon arranged to release a compilation album named "Girls' Magazine" with Monica Chan and (黎芷珊). At the same time, Chan continued her secondary education and was admitted to the Hong Kong Baptist College in 1985, majoring English studies.
Career 1983–1986: Years in the Fiori Productions Ltd. Founders of the Fiori Productions Ltd., including Angus Mak, Jim Lee (李振權), and Tony Chiu (趙潤勤) who later also became Chan's manager, worked out the "Girls' Magazine" album which featured a youthful vibe that suited the young-girl and girl next-door image of the three members. Released in 1984, the debut album was a great success, and particularly the song "Forgotten Promise", composed as a Cantonese "short tune" (xiaodiao 小調) and sung by Chan, quickly became a hit, earning not only a platinum certification (over 50,000 unit sales) for the album, but also a speedy rise in Chan's popularity as a singer. On 30 June and 1 July 1984, the "Girls' Magazine" group participated in their first public concert entitled "Dragon and Tiger Talents in Concert" (龍虎群英演唱會), at the Hong Kong Coliseum with fellow musicians Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, Deanie Ip, (陳潔靈), the (小虎隊), William Hu (胡渭康), Suen Ming-kwong (孫明光), and Lam Lei (林利)). Following up the success in record sales and increased popularity, Fiori then arranged Chan's debut as a solo artist in August 1984, and released her first solo album titled (), also certified platinum, and the song "The Glass Window of Love" (玻璃窗的愛) was another chart-topping hit. The success of these two albums and two hits finally earned Chan a "Most Promising Newcomer Award" (最有前途新人獎), which was awarded in the 1984 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards (十大中文金曲頒獎音樂會). On 15 to 16 September 1984, Chan co-starred in a youth musical titled "First-love Quintet" (初戀五重奏) with four other female teen idols—namely Sandy Lam, (林姍姍), (), and Michelle Pau—at the Academic Community Hall (大專會堂) located in the Hong Kong Baptist College. In January 1985, Chan also made her Japanese debut with the release of the extended play "Thousand-Year Lover" (千年戀人; Japanese: ) and another Japanese-Cantonese album of the same title in the name of "Girl's Magazine"; Chan even made appearance on Japanese music shows as promotion.
Back in Hong Kong, Chan took part in her first public concert as a solo artist, titled "Teen Idols in Concert" (青年偶像演唱會), at the Hong Kong Coliseum with Jacky Cheung, Lui Fong, Sandy Lam, and Sandy Lamb, on 13 to 14 August 1985. On 6 September 1985, Chan released her self-titled album "Priscilla" (陳慧嫻). Certified platinum, the album includes the chart-topping hit "Flower Shop" (花店), which its new version was released and included in Chan's cover album "By Heart" in 2014.
1986–1990: Golden Age in the PolyGram Records Ltd., Hong Kong In 1986, as the Fiori Productions Ltd. reorganised, Chan was signed as a full-time contract singer of the PolyGram Records Ltd., Hong Kong, the major music label which was also responsible for the release of Chan's aforementioned albums. At the same time, Chan quitted her Bachelor's studies at the Hong Kong Baptist College in order to be fully committed to her singing career. On 30 May, the album "Revolt" (反叛) appeared, which pushed her to new heights by adopting a Japanese-style teens image together with several popular tracks, including the leading track and disco hit "Dancing Street" (跳舞街), a cover version of Angie Gold's 1985 "Eat You Up" but based production wise, on Yōko Oginome's () version, titled "Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)" (); "Loving and/as Accident" (痴情意外); "Revolt" (反叛); "Hugging with Tears" (與淚抱擁); and "Love Me Once Again". "Dancing Street", in particular, was a huge success that not only topped the charts and was awarded the "Most Popular Disco Song" (Disco 最受歡迎歌曲) at the 1986 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation held by TVB Jade, it is also regarded as one of the pinnacles of Chan's career. The album itself was certified double platinum (over 100,000 unit sales), and Chan also officially announced that she would complete her studies abroad after her recording contract signed with PolyGram Records was expired in 1990, a move that bewildered her fans and the industry.
Chan's fourth Cantonese studio album, "Change, Change, Change" (變、變、變) was released on 19 February 1987. Although her attempt to literally change her image into an elegant Audrey Hepburn-like style was failed, such that her hairstyle and outfit were once mocked as resembling to that of Chan Lap-ban (陳立品), the famous Hong Kong supporting actress of the 1950s to 1980s, the image itself remains a classic and the album sales still exceeded triple platinum in record sales with hits like "Greed, Greed, Greed" (貪、貪、貪) (a cover of Yōko Oginome's "Roppongi Junjōha"), "Change, Change, Change Change Change" (變、變、變變變) (a cover of Yū Hayami's () "Monday Shutdown"), and "Go!" (去吧！). On 24 July, Chan's first solo compilation album titled "Remix + Best Of" (Remix + 精選) was released.
Chan rebounded nicely in 1988 with the double platinum-certified album "Priscilla's Love" (嫻情), released on 15 January 1988, in which the chart-topping hit "Silly Girl" (傻女), a Cantonese rework version of the Spanish song "La Loca" by María Conchita Alonso, confirmed Chan's status as a serious contender in the golden age of Cantopop, as the song was awarded both the 1988 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards and 1988 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. The song, selected as one of the 40 greatest Cantopop songs of all time by the Hong Kong edition of Time Out magazine in 2016, is also Chan's personal favourite among her own works and the song which Chan thinks best describes herself. Starting from "Priscilla's Love" till "Forever Your Friend" (1989), Chan's retro-styled stage presence, accompanied by varied, vintage outfits and hatwears also became one of her most iconic images throughout her singing career. Following up the success of "Priscilla's Love", Chan then released a Mandarin-language album "Silly Girl" (傻女) which features "Silly Girl's Love" (傻女的愛), the Mandarin version of the song "Silly Girl".
Another Cantonese album "Autumn Colours" (秋色) appeared on 21 October 1988 and included a number of chart-toppers, such as "Joe le taxi", a cover version of the French singer Vanessa Paradis's 1987 hit of the same name; "When Will I See You Again?!" (幾時再見?!), a cover version of the American soul group The Three Degrees's 1974 song "When Will I See You Again"; and "It's A Small World" (人生何處不相逢), a three-week number-one song on the "Ultimate Song Chart" (叱咤樂壇流行榜) of channel Ultimate 903, Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK) that also earned Chan the "Ultimate Female Singer: Silver Award" (叱咤樂壇女歌手銀獎) at the 1988 Ultimate Song Chart Awards Presentation held by CRHK. Together with songs like "Old Film at Midnight" (凌晨舊戲), and "The Earth Tracking" (地球大追蹤), a cover version of the Guinean singer Mory Kanté's "Yé ké yé ké" (1987), "Autumn Colours" was certified 4× platinum in record sales. Noteworthily, "It's A Small World" and "When Will I See You Again?!" are written on the theme of parting, constituting the series of farewell songs for Chan's hiatus as she would study abroad at Syracuse University.